Jerry backtracking on Dez playing in final two preseason games

OXNARD, Calif. – Two days after he expressed hope that injured rookie receiver Dez Bryant could play in the final two preseason games, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones backtracked on the statement.

“We have got to watch getting too overanxious with him,” Jones said. “But yet we know it would be helpful to him to get him work and get him in a couple of these preseason games. It’s going to be a decision that is additive to a medical decision, no matter how we look at it.”

Bryant, the club’s first-round draft pick, has been sidelined since he suffered a high right ankle sprain on July 30 in San Antonio.

The former Oklahoma State star fielded a few punts before Sunday’s afternoon workout, but Jones asked him to not do it again until the medical staff gives him the OK.

“It’s the rookie factor. You’d like to see him get in,” Jones said. “He’s obviously dying to get in, but that’s the decision right there. How smart is this?”